Best Middle Schools in Minnesota

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Find the best Minnesota middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Minnesota test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the MCA-III test scores by the Minnesota Department of Education. The most recent update was on Friday, August 29, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 519)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
471	Carlton Secondary	Public	6-12	405 School Ave	Carlton	55718	Carlton County	Carlton Public School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 384-4226	145	10	14.9	42.1%	105 (72.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (12.4%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (13.1%)	$13,284							13	30.6	396	75		270759000327
472	Progeny Academy Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	5929 Brooklyn Boulevard	Brooklyn Center	55429	Hennepin County	Progeny Academy Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(763) 325-9150	92	8	11.5	82.6%	10 (10.9%)	53 (57.6%)	18 (19.6%)	1 (1.1%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (9.8%)								11.8	16.9	469	3		270044405133
473	MN Virtual Secondary School	Public, Virtual, Charter	6-12	1801 County Road B W	Roseville	55113	Ramsey County	Minnesota Transitions Charter School	Yes	No	Yes	No	(651) 746-7977	561	37	15.1	61.9%	333 (59.4%)	89 (15.9%)	65 (11.6%)	11 (2.0%)	16 (2.9%)	1 (0.2%)	46 (8.2%)	$9,090							11.7	25.7	428	45		270011703264
474	Columbia Academy	Public	6-8	900 49th Ave NE	Columbia Heights	55421	Anoka County	Columbia Heights Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(763) 528-4701	719	42	17.2	78.7%	83 (11.5%)	177 (24.6%)	395 (54.9%)	22 (3.1%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (5.3%)	$12,741							11.6	12.1	493	19		270951000395
475	Saint Paul Online Middle School	Public, Virtual	6-8	780 Wheelock Pkwy W	Saint Paul	55117	Ramsey County	Saint Paul Public Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(651) 767-8100	145	8	18.1	84.8%	22 (15.2%)	42 (29.0%)	30 (20.7%)	26 (17.9%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (16.6%)								11.5	11.9	494	19		273384005419
476	River Trail Learning Center @ Lo Jacob	Public, Alternative	K-12	1700 Coon Rapids Blvd NW	Coon Rapids	55433	Anoka County	Anoka-Hennepin School District	No	No	No	No	(763) 506-1900	153	77	1.9	66.7%	74 (48.4%)	38 (24.8%)	12 (7.8%)	5 (3.3%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (14.4%)	$60,958							11.5	11.7	495	19		270318000005
477	Stride Academy K-8 Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	3241 Oakham Ln	Saint Cloud	56301	Stearns County	STRIDE Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(320) 230-5340	569	56	10.2	83.7%	37 (6.5%)	493 (86.6%)	25 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	9 (1.6%)	$12,178							11.5	9.5	506	29		270025204405
478	Sullivan Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-8	3100 E 28th St	Minneapolis	55406	Hennepin County	Minneapolis Public School District	No	Yes	No	Yes	(612) 668-5000	640	62	10.3	84.8%	72 (11.3%)	416 (65.0%)	64 (10.0%)	7 (1.1%)	28 (4.4%)	1 (0.2%)	52 (8.1%)	$19,672							11.3	8.5	512	34		272124002297
479	Creative Arts Secondary School	Public, Magnet	6-12	65 Kellogg Blvd E	Saint Paul	55101	Ramsey County	Saint Paul Public Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(651) 292-3480	382	21	18.3	75.4%	86 (22.5%)	117 (30.6%)	68 (17.8%)	61 (16.0%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (12.0%)	$15,324							11	12.7	491	12		273384004680
480	HOPE Community Academy Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	720 Payne Ave	Saint Paul	55130	Ramsey County	Hope Community Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(651) 796-4500	221	13	17.2	90.0%	3 (1.4%)	9 (4.1%)	3 (1.4%)	206 (93.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								10.5	11.5	496	16		270023005537

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Minnesota

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for MN student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on MCA-III Math, MCA-III Reading test scores released by the Minnesota Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 29, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Minnesota Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Minnesota Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Minnesota Department of Education.